Factors associated with disease survival after surgical resection in Chinese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this cohort study was to investigate clinical outcome and prognostic factors after surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 1,157 HCC patients undergoing hepatic resection between 1998 and 2003 were included in this study. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine factors affecting clinical outcome and recurrence.

RESULTS

Surgical procedures consisted of 1,011 (87.4%) anatomical resections, including 205 (17.7%) extended hepatectomies, 324 (28.0%) hemihepatectomies, 482 (41.7%) segmental resections, and 146 (12.6%) local resections. The results suggest that 56.6% of patients had a recurrence of HCC during the study period and the main recurrence type was intrahepatic (542; 83.1%). The median survival time was 45 months. The 1-, 3- and 5-year overall disease-free survival rates for the study population were 74%, 47%, and 39% respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of proportional hazard analyses suggest that tumor size, number of nodules and vascular invasion were significant predictors for poor survival rates.